


Cower And Præy

by Adorable Anarchist (Vampbi)



Category: Satan and Me (Webcomic)
Genre: (WELL happy might be a stretch....hopeful ending?), (canon typical to TMA I do not recall there being a ton of spiders in SaM), Alternate Universe - Horror, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Background Laila/Felix, Background Sheila/Ipos, Background Zoe/Chamuel, Body Horror, Canon-Typical spiders, EDIT getting reworked, Eye Horror, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, I've made Natalie a fan of spiders also for plot reasons, I've made Satan afraid of spiders for plot reasons, Lucifer is just a dude with an unfortunate name in this he's not the devil, Major Character Injury, Minor Character Death, Psychological Horror, the magnus archives au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2020-06-24 06:02:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19717681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vampbi/pseuds/Adorable%20Anarchist
Summary: The Magnus Institute is dedicated to researching the esoteric and the weird. Lucifer has recently become the head archivist after the previous one died or disappeared or quit or something. He wasn't paying close attention when he was told. He and his four assistants have begun the monumental task of organizing the archives, which have been left a mess.As they look into the cases documented in the archives, things begin to go sideways.(No need to have any knowledge of The Magnus Archives before reading)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> [A cheat sheet for if you need to know who dies <3](https://www.pillowfort.social/FelixVanHuss/tagged/Cower%20And%20Pr%C3%A6y)  
> My discord is Felix VanHuss#5438 feel free to message me if you need specific content warnings, have questions or just wanna chat
> 
> I've used statements from TMA for statements in this. I have a couple chapters written already and am hoping to update every Sunday, but because disabilities I can't firmly make that promise.
> 
> Still. I hope you enjoy <3

_"I haven't quit smoking, but I do find that I take a lot more taxis now if I find myself out too late.  
Statement ends."_

~

Lucifer inhaled and blinked rapidly as he finished reading the statement, feeling as though he had come out of some sort of trance. That likely wasn't a good sign. Still, he pushed the fear rising in his throat down as he read the follow-up notes. Something or someone was watching him, his skin crawled with the feeling, and he couldn't let them know he knew.

Lucifer Morningstar had recently been given the job of Head Archivist at the Magnus Institute, a place he'd been a researcher at until the previous Head Archivist had died or quit or something. Zadkiel hadn't really been clear. However it happened, Lucifer was now in charge of organizing and digitizing the archives, which were a mess.

It hadn't taken very long before he found a statement that he couldn't type up or digitally record without something corrupting the file no matter what he did. He'd also found a tape recorder in his office and decided to give that a shot and, of course, it recorded just fine.

"Recording ends."

Lucifer slumped in his chair as he hit the 'stop' button, the feeling of being watched disappearing. He glanced at the photo Sheila had given him, the hand hovering in the shadows beckoning.

He shook his head sharply, shoving the tape, the written statement and the photo into a large, brown envelope and threw it into his 'finished' pile, trying to get ahold of himself.

Yes, alright, he felt like he something watching him when he recorded statements on tape. Yes, he was a maybe a bit frightened, _but_ he wasn't going to show it. He was going to do his job and he wasn't going to let any of this shit get to him.

A knock on his door pulled him out of his thoughts. He cleared his throat and tried to put on a slightly annoyed air as he called for whoever it was to enter. His annoyance quickly became genuine when he saw _which_ of his assistants was bothering him.

"Hey boss! I finished checking up on that statement you asked me to. Honestly, I think that one may have not been a ghost, their neighbour has all these cats and-" Natalie McAllister rambled.

Lucifer glared and her and waited to see if she would notice. When he was given this job he got four archival assistants. Zoe had worked for the previous Head Archivist, Lucifer had requested Ipos and Sheila himself and Zadkiel gave him Natalie for some reason beyond his comprehension.

She was way to cheerful for someone who had to catalog various horrifying ways people had died or been traumatized, constantly bouncing around and rambling on about one thing or another. Annoyingly, she wasn't terrible at her job so Lucifer couldn't fire her and he couldn't get her transferred to a different part of the Institute. He'd asked Zadkiel and they'd just laughed at him. So he was stuck with her.

"McAllister!" He snapped, having had enough of her talking about cats, "Is that all?"

"Oh! Yeah, pretty much. I was just wondering if you had anything else you needed me to follow-up on!" The venom in his voice had done nothing to diminish her accursed cheer.

"Yes, actually. Look into Case 0140912 for me, would you? You like bugs, should be fun for you." Lucifer grinned wickedly, Natalie gave him an unimpressed look.

"Spiders aren't bugs."

"Whatever. Just get to work, kid."

~

Lucifer spent the rest of his workday typing up statements, when he would find one that he was unable to record digitally he put it in a separate 'to record later' pile. The one he'd done had unsettled him and he was oddly tired afterward, as though he'd run a marathon instead of spending ten minutes speaking into a stupid tape recorder.

Natalie was blessedly gone for the most of the rest of that day, only popping into his office an hour or so before they got off work to bother him.

"Hey, boss!"

Lucifer cringed at her irritatingly cheerful voice. He'd skimmed the details of the statement he told her to investigate, she had no reason to be that cheerful.

Still, he put on his best menacing grin as he looked up from his notes.

"Have fun with worm boy?" He asked mockingly.

"I couldn't find him, actually. I did find this real weird police report though. So, there _was_ a fire, but-"

"Put it on my desk. I'll look through it later." He cut her off before she could keep speaking.

"Yeah. 'Course." Natalie's smile got just a little tighter, but she still put the file down, "You need anything else?"

"No. You can go home early if you want." He pointedly looked at his notes rather than at her, hoping she'd get the message.  
"Hm. I'll see if Zoe needs any help."

"Sure."

She continued standing there. Why one earth wasn't she leaving?

"You know," Lucifer had to stop himself from groaning as she started speaking again, "everyone's going out for drinks after work. You should join us."

"I will not do that." Lucifer had no desire to spend more time with Natalie than he had to.

"Aw, c'mon! You're friends with Ipos and Sheila, so it's not like-"

"Holy fuck! Do you ever shut up? No, I'm not coming. Go do your job." Lucifer exclaimed, patience tested to its very limit.

"Alright, mister grumpy." Natalie rolled her eyes, finally turning to leave, "See you tomorrow."

He bit his tongue before he could say something regrettable in reply to that. She was finally leaving, no need to hinder that.  
He sighed in relief as the door closed behind her. As he flipped through the file she'd given him he felt a small stab of guilt, though. As annoying as she was she wasn't _bad_ at her job. Well, not always bad at her job. Well, _this time_ she'd found some useful information. Still, he could do without her irritating attempts to befriend him. Lucifer was not interested in friendship.

He frowned as he read through the police report. It was....odd. Quickly, he grabbed the statement and tried to typed it up. He wasn't surprised when distortion filled his screen. Lucifer sighed and grabbed the tape recorder, bracing himself to record another statement, hoping this one wouldn't be as draining as the last.

As he clicked the button toe record he felt his skin crawl, the feelings of being watched, of being studied, returning in full.

"Statement of Timothy Hodge, regarding his sexual encounter with one Harriet Lee and her subsequent death. Original statement given December 9th, 2014. Audio recording by Lucifer Morningstar, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute.  
Statement begins"

~

When he finally dragged himself out of his office, mind fuzzy and limbs heavy with exhaustion, he was surprised to see Zoe still there. Ipos, Sheila and Natalie had all clearly left, but Zoe remained at her computer, furiously typing something.

He almost wanted to ask he what she was still doing here. Almost. His need to find a bed and collapse into it won out this time. It wasn't really any of his business anyway.

As he drove home a weight slowly lifted from his shoulders. Lucifer....wouldn't say he _enjoyed_ working at the Institute, but it wasn't the worst job he'd had, still he couldn't wait to get home and sleep.

Finally at his apartment he stood in his kitchen staring at the fridge, contemplating throwing together some sort of supper. In the end he figured there was little harm in skipping a meal once and crawled into bed, falling asleep quickly.

He dreamed of a fog, rolling over a blank landscape, choking him. Something was watching him through the fog, something he couldn't see or escape. He felt like a butterfly, pinned down and studied. He knew, in the way you know things in dreams, that this was a test of some sort and if he failed he would die.

Desperation set in and Lucifer randomly picked a direction and ran, hoping that was better than just standing there. His lungs were heavy with the fog, the feeling of being watched burned, and he hadn't been so afraid since....

Since....

Lucifer woke up with a start, gasping in air free of fog.

It took a couple of minutes but he managed to slow his racing heart and calm his breathing. Once he'd calmed down enough he rushed to check the locks in his apartment, reassuring himself that there wasn't anything lurking in the shadows.

Of course there wasn't. It was just a nightmare. He hadn't had a nightmare in a few years, that's why he was so rattled. Lucifer hadn't thought the statements he'd read had gotten to him that much, but clearly he was wrong. He hoped that he'd get desensitized quickly, more nightmares like that wouldn't be fun.

Lucifer glanced at a clock. 3:23am, he really should go back to sleep. The idea froze something in his chest, he really didn't want another nightmare. Still, it was way to early to be awake for the day.

Stubbornly he crawled back into bed. Being to scared of a fucking nightmare to sleep? He wasn't that pathetic.

He wasn't.

~

Lucifer had drunk three cups of coffee already and the workday had barely begun. He knew he looked like shit so he made up for it by being more aggressive than necessary. Zoe had told him 'good morning' when he'd arrived and he'd glared at her so fiercely she'd hurried up and left him alone. He hadn't seen Natalie yet and he hoped that wouldn't change. The last thing he needed was her cheerfulness. Thankfully she was out following up on some part of some case, he couldn't be bothered to remember, and with any luck that would keep her away for the rest of the day.

Of course, he wasn't that lucky.

"Hey boss! Shelia told me you seemed extra grumpy today so I bought you a coffee. I don't know how to like it so I just went with black."

Lucifer looked up from where he'd been staring at his desk, mind empty, to see Natalie barge into his office holding a styrofoam coffee cup. For once, he almost wasn't pissed off by her presence.

"Geez, you do look like shit. What's going on, boss?" Natalie asked, placing the cup on his desk.

Then perched herself on the corner of his desk for some fucking reason. His hopes that she'd just give him coffee and leave him alone were dashed. Not that those hopes had been high in the first place.

"Nothing. Go do your job." Lucifer tried in vain to dismiss her.

"I have nothing to do right now," that was lie, there was a lot to sort in the archives, "tell me what's wrong, man."  
Lucifer gave up and dropped his head onto his desk, groaning loudly.

"Rude. Look, we're friends-"

"We're not friends." He hurried to cut her off.

"Shut up, yes we are. Anyway, we're friends and if something's bothering you, you can tell me."

Lucifer looked up at her with a glare. Natalie was smiling at him and he just could not fucking deal with her nonsense that morning.

" _You're_ bothering me." He said sharply.

Natalie just rolled her eyes and hopped off his desk. Lucifer allowed himself to hope that she was leaving.

"Fine, if you wanna be grumpy I can't stop you. See you later boss." She said, heading towards the door.

"Do your damn job and leave me alone, kid."

She stuck her tongue out at him like a damn child before finally, _finally_ , leaving. Lucifer breathed a sigh of relief before going back to staring blankly at his desk.

He couldn't pinpoint the moment he fell asleep, but he found himself back in that suffocating fog once again. The feeling of being watched was so much more intense than he remembered it, not that he was remembering anything properly. Everything in his head was fuzzy and filled with panic. This time though he was aware he was dreaming. He had no idea if that knowledge would be at all helpful, it certainly hadn't lessened the fear choking him, but he clung to it.

He would wake up at some point.

Probably.

Once it became clear that standing still wasn't helping anything, Lucifer tried walking. He picked a direction at random and set out.

As he walked the feeling of being studied and the fear didn't lessen but they also didn't get worse. In fact, nothing changed for a while. Or at least, he assumed it took awhile for things to change. Time didn't seem to really be a thing in this dream. However long it took, eventually the fog began clinging more and more incessantly until he brought a hand up to wave though it only to see that he was walking through cobwebs now.

This realization had him breathing faster, he shuddered and he felt his heart speed up. Lucifer tried tell himself that he hadn't seen any spiders, but the thought of the creatures sent his skin crawling, phantom arachnids climbed over him. He looked dead ahead, not daring to look down at himself and find out if the spiders he could feel covering his skin were a trick of the mind or not.

Lucifer didn't know how much time passed but eventually he forced himself to look down.  
"What's going on?!" Sheila burst into his office, shouting frantically.

It took a second for Lucifer's brain to catch up to him, but between his nightmare, the scream dying in his throat and his panicked archival assistant he could guess at what was happening.

"Nothing. I saw a spider and it surprised me. Get back to work." Lucifer said sharply, tried and probably failing to hide how shaken he still was.

"Alright...." Sheila said slowly.

She didn't look like she believed him, but her posture relaxed and she dropped it at least.

"I won't tell Natalie you killed it." She smirked as Lucifer groaned.

"Fuck. I don't think I could stand another lecture about how important they are or whatever." He said, rubbing a hand over his eyes to try to clear away the last of the nightmare.

Sheila laughed. Lucifer wouldn't ever admit it, but he was thankful she hadn't pushed the issue and had instead pivoted to a much more welcome subject. How fucking annoying Natalie McAllister is.

~

"Despite Zoe's best efforts we could get no explanation as to why, in a building of that size, Mr Gillespie spent almost two years living alone, save for an old wooden coffin.  
Recording ends."

~  
**[9:04pm] Conversation with [Pain In My Ass]**

_Hey boss?  
Smth messed up just happened_


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna be busy tomorrow so I'm posting a lil early.

Natalie stood in the nearly empty mall waiting for Kristi to finish closing up the shop she worked at. She'd done this a few times before, walking over to the mall after work to sneakily hang out with her friend until her work was over, but for some reason this time felt different.

She chalked up it to the cases she'd been researching lately had been extra creepy. Stupid Lucifer, giving her cases he _knew_ would gross her out! Just because she was a little clumsy and had knocked over a couple boxes one time.

Still, the mannequins were wigging her out and no matter how many times she told herself that she'd been in this store after hours before and nothing bad had happened....Their blank faces seemed to be staring at her.

"Hey, Kristi? You almost done?" Natalie called.

There was no reply. Natalie frowned and got up to look in the back for her friend.

"Kristi? Dude, if you're pranking me it's not fu-" She was cut off by a high pitched scream coming from the change rooms.

Natalie didn't hesitate to start running in that direction. Her mind raced through all the various horrific things she researched almost every day. Human's serving as living hives for bugs, bones pulled out of bodies without breaking the skin, murderous paintings, being trapped in hallway spiralling nonsensically forever, people disappearing into a fog with no trace.

Running at top speed it didn't take her all that long to reach the change rooms.

"KRISTI?" She screamed.

For a heart-stopping second there wasn't an answer, but then one of the change room doors flung open revealing a freaked out Kristi.

"I saw a spider!!"

Relief washed through Natalie. Kristi was fine. It was just a spider. Once Natalie could breathe again she laughed.

"This isn't funny! They’re so gross! I have no idea why you like them so much." Kristi huffed.

"You're a scaredy cat, Kristi." Natalie grinned at her while Kristi huffed indigently, "You really had me freaked out."

"I keep forgetting that you work at that spooky Institute. Well, while you are off being creepy I'm making a living the normal way." Kristi said dismissively while grabbing her purse.

Natalie was always a little bit hurt when Kristi dismissed her work. Sure, the Magnus Institute wasn't the most… _respected_ of institutes, but the paranormal was a perfectly valid thing to be interested in.

"Well, are we heading out?" Kristi asked.

"Yeah, let's- Hold on...Did that mannequin move?" Natalie frowned at a mannequin that she was sure had been about a foot to the left of where it currently stood a minute ago.

"Ha ha. Sorry for scaring you over that spider, you don't have to try to return the favour. That mannequin is exactly where I put it this morning. Now come on." Kristi said and started walking towards the exit.

Natalie was fully prepared to shrug it off, but then she saw another mannequin move. This time she watched it raise it's arm with her own eyes.

"OHMYGOSH! Kristi, look! It's moving!" Natalie grabbed Kristi's shoulder and pulled her to look at the mannequin.

"What are you- OH SHIT!!" Kristi screamed as the mannequin took a step towards them.

Several other mannequins turned their heads to look at the two of them. Natalie's blood felt like ice in her veins, time seemed to slow to crawl. Finally she managed to wrangle enough control of her vocal chords to shout at Kristi to run before taking off.

She could hear Kristi's panicked crying just behind her as she ran, reassuring her that her friend was right behind her. They didn't slow down as they approached the door, slamming into it with their full weight. Natalie was pretty sure she'd end up with a bruise in the shape of the doors push handle.

It didn't open.

"WHY WON'T IT OPEN?!" Kristi's screaming didn't do anything to help the door open.

Natalie turned around, eyes scanning for another way out of the building that wasn't running back past the moving mannequins. What she saw was three mannequins walking at a steady pace towards them. The entrance to the mall was past them and from the mall there were many exits. Hopefully one of them would let them outside, but they'd have to run past the mannequins first.

"Kristi, we have to run back. We can leave through the mall." Natalie said, trying to sound confident.

There was no way she sounded confident. Kristi looked at her with wide, tear-filled eyes. Natalie laced her fingers through Kristi's, refusing to lose her.

"C'mon!" Natalie shouted and began to run faster than she knew she could.

Surprisingly Kristi managed to keep up with her. The mannequins reached out for them as they ran past, one's hand grabbed Natalie's jacket, but thankfully she was moving to fast for it to get a grip.

It wasn't only those three mannequins though. As they ran through the store mannequin after mannequin reached for them, grabbing at nothing, barely missing them each time.

Natalie's mind was blank with the panic that was flooding her body. The only things she could feel was her heart beating wildly and the death grip she and Kristi had on each other's hands.

Then one of the mannequins managed to grab Kristi's arm firmly, the sudden stop tripping both the girls up, their hands were yanked apart. Before Natalie could even really react one of the mannequins grabbed her as well.

Kristi and Natalie were roughly pulled to their feet, their arms held firmly behind them by mannequins. The other mannequins in the store walked over and formed a circle around them. Natalie tried desperately to think of some way to get out of there.

"H-hey, if this is some so-sort of prank-" Natalie tried to speak, but was cut off by a mannequin in front of her melting.

It's face started dripping like hot wax, slowly it's head caved in, folding in on itself slowly as through it was a candled with it's flame burning at the centre. The body followed soon after, dripping and melting and folding in way that seemed far to fast and to slow at the same time. Natalie and Kristi were left speechless, staring at a puddle of plastic that was once a mannequin.

Well. That ruled out this being people in costumes messing with them.

**_“You do not know us.”_ **

An echoing voice said. It seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at once, but somehow Natalie knew the mannequins were speaking.  
"Wh-what?" Kristi managed to ask through her tears.

The mannequins ignored her. Their faces instead were all turned towards Natalie.

"I- I'm sorry? Should I kn-know you?" Natalie asked, then added, "Can you let my friend go?"

For a moment the mannequins didn't react. Then slowly the one holding Kristi released her. Kristi took off running into the mall. Natalie hoped she'd make it out okay.  
"Thank you." She said.

Still no reaction from the mannequins. She waited. She didn't know how long she waited, but eventually she heard sirens outside. The mannequins let go of her arms and Natalie didn't wait around to see what happened next, she took off.

~

It had taken awhile to talk to the cops and be cleared by the paramedics, but once she'd gotten that done with and had checked that Kristi was alright, she went home to collapse into bed.

She was going to have some _weird_ bruises.

This was Natalie's first genuine, without a doubt encounter with the paranormal. She figured she owed it to her place of work to give her statement, but she really wasn't up to doing that just yet. For right that second all she was up to was staring at the ceiling, wondering what the heck the mannequins had wanted.

'You do not know us.' What on earth was that supposed to _mean?!_

Eventually the quiet got to her and she picked up her phone, pausing before called anyone. Kristi probably needed time to recover, Laila would probably laugh at her, she didn't want to worry her dad, Max was busy, Micheal was busy....She didn't have anyone to call.

So she settled for texting her boss.

**[9:04pm] Conversation with [Pain In My Ass]**

_Hey boss?  
Smth messed up just happened_

Messed up how, kid?

_Messed up like I think I need to give a statement_

Jesus. Alright  
I'm still here if you want to do that now?  
_Yeah. Ok  
I'll be there in 10_

Natalie put down her phone and sighed. Seems like this is what she was doing now.

~

"You're sure what happen was paranormal?" Lucifer asked for the hundredth time.

"Yeah, dude. Obviously. Can I make my statement already or what?" Natalie asked, patience wearing thin.

"I'm just making sure. You tend to be a little...excitable."

Natalie just glared at him until he grabbed a tape recorder. Usually she didn't really mind his scepticism and general annoyance with everything, but she was tired and had just gone through something probably traumatic.

"Statement of Natalie McAllister, archival assistant at the Magnus Institute, concerning....."

"Uh. Mannequins. I guess."

"Concerning mannequins. Recorded direct from subject 15th of August 2019. Statement begins."

As Natalie spoke she watched Lucifer's face for any sign that he believed her. He stayed stone faced throughout, though his eyes seemed almost liked they'd glazed over. She would've thought she was boring him with her near death experience, but she felt like he was watching her intently.

"-Then I heard sirens and they let me go. I have no idea why, honestly I thought they were going to kill me. Once I was free I ran out of there so fast! I'm pretty sure my legs'll be killing me tomorrow." Natalie finished.

"Statement ends. Natalie, are you alright?" Lucifer asked, his face finally showing emotion again.

That emotion seemed to be concern.

"Aw, are you worried about me?" Natalie grinned at him.

He rolled his eyes.

"I'm making sure one of my assistants isn't going to have a breakdown." He said.

"So you're worried!" Natalie declared, enjoying her momentary triumph.

"I'm being serious, kid." Lucifer glared at her and Natalie shifted back to being serious.

"Yeah, I'm alright. Honestly I feel a lot better after getting all that off my chest. Thanks, man. I'm mostly surprised that Kristi and I both got out alive. I've been working here for a while, that's not common that an encounter will happen and no one dies."

"Yes. It's....Odd. I tell someone to investigate this tomorrow-"

"Oh, you don't have to." Natalie interrupted him, "Not right away anyway. I think Kristi would like to have some time to recover."

"Alright. I'll give....Kristi.....some time to recover."

Natalie did not appreciate the pause around Kristi's name, but it's not like what Lucifer was getting at was wrong. Sure, Natalie felt better now, but she still needed time to wrap her head around everything that had happened that day.

Sure, she'd always believed in the paranormal, but believing in something and that something almost killing you and your friend were two very different things.

"Thanks. I'll get out of your hair now." Natalie said, forcing herself to be cheerful once again.

Lucifer grunted in reply, which seemed like progress. Maybe he really was warming up to her. It would be nice is he was.

She paused before leaving his office to look back at him critically. Lucifer was already looking through another book, seemingly oblivious to Natalie's continued presence. He looked tired. Not like he had bags under his eyes or anything, just something in his face made it seem like he needed some sleep.

"The fuck are you still doing here, kid?" Lucifer snapped, not taking his eyes away from his book.

"Are you getting enough sleep?" She asked before she could help herself.

That made him look up at her sharply.

"What?" He said flatly.

"You just look kinda tired. I'm allowed to be concerned about my friend's health." She knew calling them friends was a stretch to say the least, but the face he made when she said it was amazing.

"We're not friends!" Lucifer snapped.

"Sure, Luce." Natalie knew she was pushing her luck so she quickly left once she spoke.

She heard him shout something she couldn't quite hear though the borderline soundproof door and laughed. She knew this wasn't going to endear the man the her, but damn it was fun to mess with him just a little bit. It was like revenge for giving her the worm case, kinda.

~

On her way back to her apartment, Natalie's phone buzzed in her pocket. A small thread of fear shot through her before she read the message. It was just Micheal telling her about a weird bookstore he was in. Nothing had happened to Kristi, everything was fine. Natalie laughed a little at herself before replying to Micheal.

Natalie saw the bookstore wasn't all the far from her. She decided to go bother Micheal in person. A decision that had nothing to do with her not wanting to be alone. Not at all.

She was fine.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lmao I've had a couple of tough weeks so now we're just about caught up to all I've actually written ajkhajksblak  
> This week should be calmer tho so ch4 will probs be up on Sunday as per usual ^.^

Lucifer tried not to worry about Natalie. Would it really be that bad if a mannequin tracked her down and killed her? Wouldn't that be just one more problem off his hands?

He worried about Natalie. It wasn't like whatever these supernatural things were to let everyone who'd encountered them go free except only for a little while, a sort of false sense of safety. Like a cat toying with a mouse.

When he saw Natalie in the archives the next day he told himself he wasn't relieved. He was a little annoyed to see that she was busy reading some book. Lucifer leaned into that much safer feeling and wandered closer to her desk, trying not to alert her to his approach. Not that he needed to worry, whatever it was she was reading had her transfixed.

"McAllister!" He snapped, but she didn't even flinch.

He tried to brush away the thread of fear that shot through him. Surely Natalie couldn't have been unlucky enough to stumble across one of.... _those_ books.

Quickly he snatched the book right out of her hands and flipped to the inside of the front cover. Sure enough, there was a bookplate reading 'From the library of Foras Leitner'. Lucifer felt his skin crawl.

"Hey! I was reading th- woah!" Natalie had tried to stand only to sit back down very quickly clutching her head.

"Jesus, kid. You're lucky you're not dead. How the fuck did you get your hands on a Leitner?" He snapped.

His heart was beating uncomfortably fast and he'd rather this interaction ended soon so he could get rid of the book.

"Uh...Bookshop. Oh god." She curled into herself further, still clutching her head.

"You're not about to explode or anything gross, are you?"

"Ugh. No, I don't think so. Just dizzy. I feel like I'm falling. I'm not falling, right?"

"You might fall outta that chair if you're not careful." Lucifer said before turning and walking away, deeming the conversation over.

He walked as quickly as he could without running over to artifact storage so someone could take the damn book.

He didn't like to admit he believed in the supernatural, but he made an exception for Leitners. It just seemed far to dangerous to pretend the fucking things were anything less that extremely deadly.

Though, there was something in his chest that loosened with the thought that Natalie had likely just survived the follow up attack from whatever it was that tried to kill her the previous day. That's what it had to have been after all, it's not like anyone could be unlucky enough for two separate paranormal encounters in two days.

Right?

"Hey, Lucifer." A voiced sounded from over Lucifer's shoulder as he made his way back from artifact storage.

He almost jumped out of his skin, but instead turned around sharply to face Ipos. His heart was still beating fairly quickly from his close encounter with the Leitner so he didn't really appreciate being snuck up on.

"What?" Lucifer snapped.

"Calm down. Just letting you know that Natalie's laying down on the cot for a bit. Apparently she's got wicked vertigo or something." Ipos said calmly.

He was always calm. It was mildly annoying.

"Thank you. Can I go back to doing my job now or is there any more terribly important news? Does Sheila have stomachache, perhaps? Does Zoe feel a little tired?" Lucifer ignored any other emotion he might've been feeling in favour of being sarcastic.

Ipos just rolled his eyes, smiled at him and walked away. Lucifer glared after him for a bit before snapping out of whatever gross emotion he was feeling and headed back to his office. He had statements to record.

~

_"Statement of Dominic Swain, regarding a book briefly in his possession in the winter of 2012. Original statement given June 28th, 2013. Audio recording my Lucifer Morningstar, head archivist of the Magnus Institute._

_Statement begins."_

~

"Sorry I yelled at you earlier."

"Do you know how to fucking knock?"

Natalie had barged into Lucifer's office with no warning, not for the first time. He pushed aside any emotion he felt to see with his own eyes that she was fine.

She continued standing there and he continued glaring at her until he finally snapped at her again.

"Is that all?"

"What? Oh, yeah. Just wondering if you have any cases for me to look into." Natalie asked with a smile.

The idea of Natalie placing herself in danger again so soon sat uncomfortably in his gut. So he handed a file on a case he was fair sure was nothing.

~

"Does anyone know anything about..." Lucifer double checked his notes, "Micheal Angelos?"

"The ringmaster of The Circus Of The Other?" Ipos said, looking up from the notes he had been reading through.

"Is that who he is? Huh." Lucifer made a note, "When was the circus active-"

The rest of his sentence was cut off by a loud crash. Lucifer threw his notes on a desk, Ipos stood up so fast he knocked over his chair and Sheila ripped off her earbuds and they all hurried in the direction of the sound.

Only to find Natalie laying on the ground surrounded by the contents of the box she'd evidently been carrying. Mostly papers, notes and photographs, as well as one apple in a sealed container.

"Are you alright?" Ipos asked.

"Yeah, just dizzier than I thought I was. Maybe I should go lie down again." Natalie sighed.

Ipos helped her to her feet and guided her back to the cot. Lucifer watched them walk away, not sure if he was worried or not.

"Weird. You didn't even yell at her for wasting time. Is she growing on you?" Sheila asked.

Lucifer did not dignify that with an answer and just grunted before walking away.

~

A spider crawled over Lucifer's hand, startling him out of his focus on his typing up on of the most certainly false cases.

"Fuck! Fuck!" He shook his hand frantically, trying to get rid of the spider.

He did get rid of it, but now he knew it was somewhere in the room and he had no idea where. He shivered and felt million of phantom spider legs crawling all over him. His stomach rolled, unable to stand the thought of being in the same room as a spider.

He hurried out of his office, closing the door behind him as though that would stop the spider from finding him again. Once he looked around he noticed that the archives seemed empty. Lucifer pulled out his phone to check the time and found it was hours past when they all got off work.

He didn't used to be such a workaholic, but something about the archives....He always found it hard to leave.

A thunk drew him out of his thoughts. Someone (or something) was still in the archives. Slowly, he made his way to the row of shelves the noise had come from. He braced himself and looked, partly expecting some sort of human-sized spider. Instead, he saw Zoe with a bunch of notes spread out in front of her.

Lucifer took in the scene for a second, undecided on if he'd make his presence known. Zoe periodically scribbled something down in a notebook before continuing to read through whatever it was she was reading. He'd think she was just staying late to work if it weren't for that notebook. That notebook meant she was gathering information from the archives for some reason other than archiving and investigating for the Institute.

For some reason the thought irritated Lucifer. More than that, it worried him. Could he trust her? Could he trust any of them? There was obviously something very weird about the Institute and it was impossible to know who was or wasn't a part of it.

Hadn't Zadkiel said the last head archivist had disappeared? Or died? Zoe had worked for the last head archivist. Did that mean something? Did that mean nothing?

Lucifer's head swirled with the need to _know_ , to find out just what was going on. He wanted to confront Zoe. To find out just what she had written in that notebook.

Before he could step forward he thought better of it. There was no harm whatsoever in Zoe doing her own research on the side. This spike of paranoia was baseless and...strange.

Lucifer quickly made his way back to his office, mind racing. It wasn't like him to jump to conclusions like that. To spiral into paranoia like that. It was unsettling. Then again, it had been a very stressful day....

~

"You're in early." Lucifer greeted Natalie as he walked into the archives to find her already there and working.

"I didn't actually leave last night. I slept in the archives." She explained.

"Why?" He frowned.

"I was to dizzy to walk out of here. I'm all good now though!" She finished with a bright smile.

Lucifer just looked at her, unsure what emotion he was feeling, but he was sure it was akin to confusion. Bafflement, maybe?

"You couldn't walk out of the archives because you were to dizzy, but this morning you're fine?"

"Yep! I think I slept whatever effect that book had on me off." Natalie said, still sunny.

He just shook his head. Slept off the effects of a Leitner. It was about as plausible as anything, he supposed.

"Do you want any coffee?" She called after him.

He didn't answer. Undoubtedly she would take that as a 'yes' and bring him some later at the most annoying time possible.

Being back in the archives after whatever had happened the night before had him feeling a little off. The feeling of being watched wasn't even a fraction as intense as it was when he was recording a statement, but he could feel it, just enough for his skin to itch, even though he wasn't recording. Lucifer had no idea how to feel about that.

~

"Hey boss!" Natalie's cheerful voice as she barged into Lucifer's office was, for once, a welcome distraction.

He'd been going over some notes that had him feeling queasy. He had a strong stomach, you had to to work at the Magnus Institute, but for some reason the case he was looking into just really got under his skin.

"Brought you coffee." Natalie said, placing the cup down on his desk before perching herself on a corner.

"That's not a chair, you know."

"So, I was thinking-"

Lucifer never got to find out what Natalie was thinking, instead they were interrupted by someone walking through the door.

"Hello, Archivist." The newcomer said pleasantly, waving a hand that somehow seemed to....sharp.

Lucifer had never seen her before in his life. She had brown skin, curly red hair and her eyes were mesmerizing. They seemed to swirl. So did her skin and the curls in her hair, actually. Every part of her seemed to twist and spiral and yet she held he human shape. Once he'd noticed the spirals in he being he saw that her hands were long. Her hands were much longer than they should be, her fingers were long and frighteningly sharp.

"Who-what are you?" He asked.

"What's your name?" Natalie asked.

"Names are...tricky. I think my name is Anthea, you may call me that. What I am is also tricky. And unimportant." She said.

"Hi, Anthea. I'm Natalie." Natalie said, seemingly undeterred by Anthea's strangeness.

"Hello, Natalie. It is.....nice to meet you. I am here to warn the Archivist, and you as well, of a threat." Anthea said.

Lucifer sat up even straighter in his seat. He wasn't sure how Natalie was keeping it together as much as she was, the wrongness of Anthea grated on his every nerve. He was incredibly on edge.

"A threat?" He said sharply.

"Yes. There's.....One of the people you know, they are not what they seem. It would be....inconvenient if you died so soon after the last one so I thought it best to warn you. I thank you for your kindness and permission to use your name, Natalie." Anthea said before turning around and leaving through the door she'd come through.

Once she'd left Lucifer realized that his office had only ever had one door and the one Anthea had used wasn't it. Then what she'd said sunk in. He wanted to ask Natalie what she made of that, what she thought Anthea meant by 'not what they seem', who it might be.

"Did you never learn not to give things that are _clearly_ not human your fucking name?" Was what he said instead.

"I was being nice!" She protested.

"Whatever. It's to late now. If you get kidnapped by whatever that was don't blame me."

Natalie rolled her eyes.

They sat in silence for a minute.

"So you admit that whatever just happened was paranormal?" Natalie asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes. Honestly I've always believed in the paranormal." He admitted.

"What the heck!! Then what's with your stupid skeptic thing?" Natalie said, smacking him on the shoulder for some reason.

"I have my reasons." Lucifer said, not wanting to properly answer her.

"As in you don't trust us?" She asked.

"Well, apparently someone we know isn't what they seem so I'm a little justified if I don't trust you." He pointed out.

"Well, obviously you can trust me. I mean, she told you that while I was in the room, so clearly I'm not the one hiding something."

Lucifer's mind flashed back to Zoe, making notes in the dark. He could feel his paranoia beginning to mount once again. He refused to admit that Natalie could be trustworthy. Just because she wasn't the one he'd been warned about didn't mean she wasn't hiding something.

"Anyway, I better get back to work. I'll keep an eye on everyone. Like a spy mission or something! I don't know if I totally believe that lady, but might as well, just in case. Honestly, I'm a little suspicious of Zadkiel. I mean, they're pretty weird. Drink your coffee before it gets cold." And with that Natalie left.

Lucifer had no idea what to make of any of what had happened. He didn't want to trust Anthea, but he didn't want to trust anyone and Anthea provided a reason not to. Then again, that could be exactly what she wanted, for him to fall into the paranoia that was trying to ensnare him.

Whatever was really going on, he wasn't going to let his guard down.


	4. quick update

Lmao ok so the TMA S4 finale destroyed the plans I had for this XD Gonna rework this shit and get back to y'all later <3


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